Atlanta City Council discusses settlement after motorcycle killed in 'reversible' lane crash

ATLANTA - Members of the Atlanta City Council members are set to pay a family more than $3 million to settle an accident claim where a motorcyclist was killed.

The collision occurred on a major thoroughfare which features a reversible center lane.

When motorcyclist Daniel Barkin, a DeKalb County resident, was traveling along Decatur Street, he was in a center reversible lane which could change for drivers depending on the time of day.

"You are dependent as a driver on the signals working properly, to tell you is it your turn to use that lane with a green arrow, or are you not supposed to use that lane with a red ‘X,’" said attorney Bruce Hagen, who is not connected to this case.

A legal action lays blame on the motorcyclist colliding with a car on traffic signals malfunctioning. The motorcyclist was killed.

Hagen says Atlanta City Hall had been put on "notice."

"Meaning that there were complaints to the city and somebody in the city knew that this light was malfunctioning," Hagen said.

The man who was killed was just 40 years old. Hagen says his age plays a role in weighing damages.

"They were facing an enormous amount of liability and potential exposure to a much larger judgment if this case went to trial," said Hagen.

Looking at the street now, it is unclear whether traffic signals are working properly still, all the way from downtown to DeKalb Avenue in East Atlanta.

During Monday’s Atlanta Public Safety Committee meeting, a settlement was discussed and requested a look at the current situation.

"They would want to have a full-on inquiry into how this happened and what can be done to ever prevent this from happening again," Hagen said. "As drivers along busy corridor like DeKalb Avenue that runs through the city we rely on this very simple technology to work."